Cat and Mouse
by Imagigamegirl
Summary: A whole new world to explore with more Time Pieces to gather. But now, Hat Kid became a part of some sort of shady cat gang under the leadership of a scary cat lady. Now, Hat Kid has to figure a way out of this mess and get all her Time Pieces once again. Who will be the true cat and mouse of this adventure? All rights go to Gears for Breakfast. Rated T, just in case.


Small break from Deathwish again to bring you the latest DLC story! I did promise myself to write one up. So buckle up and grab your metro passes because here we go, ladies and gents! The retelling of the Nyakuza Metro! All rights going to their proper owners. And keep in mind for any that have read my previous fics that this takes place after meeting with Bow, hence after the Arctic Cruise, but before Deathwish.

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Hattie let out a small groan that echoed through the ship as she spun around on her captain's chair. She was _boooooooored_.

One would figure that living on a new planet with interesting people to hang out and talk to wouldn't make any day boring. But the problem with today was that _everyone_ was busy. Plus, there was nothing new to do.

She's already messed around with the Mafia enough to last a week, so hanging out with Mu or exploring on her own is a no-go. The Conductor and Grooves are busy with their movies and the receptionist warned her about them not wanting to be interrupted today. Snatcher's got his hands full setting up traps, delivering mail, and maybe stealing a soul or two. And Hattie already explored every nook and cranny of Alpine Skyline. Not to mention the Captain and his seal crew are just working on boring paperwork to get a new cruise ship.

Overall, there was nothing to do today.

She sighed as she slid out of her captain's chair, a little dizzy from the spinning. Her Rumbi drove up to her side and nudged her hand. Hattie looked to Rumbi and patted their head.

"I dunno how you don't get bored just hanging around the ship and cleaning all day, buddy. Maybe I can go back to Subcon and ask Snatcher if I can help with mail delivery again."

Just as she considered the thought, her main computer screen pinged and alerted her. There was a new Time Piece? Hattie sat up straight and ran to her computer screen. She tapped the screen and it showed a Time Piece picture in...wait, she didn't know this area. And how are there more Time Pieces? Did Bow come back for another visit and crash?

No, she would've called her. Hattie hummed in thought. Come to think of it, Tim did say something about Time Pieces and their creation. No one really knows how they come into existence. But Tim theorized that they were gifts from the stars, since they rain down from the sky sometimes. Hattie still questions how that's possible, but has no other idea where they could come from. She liked to imagine they were like secret special shooting stars anyway. Only the lucky can truly find them.

But focusing on the matter at hand, not only were there new Time Pieces, but they were in someplace new. It appears underground around a cityscape near Dead Bird Studios. Hattie couldn't help but smile with mild excitement. A new area to explore!

Of course, she'll have to make sure no bad guy/future friend gets their hands on a Time Piece, but who wouldn't be eager to see a new area?

Grabbing her umbrella, she headed to the hatch. "Watch the ship for me, Rumbi! I'll be back in a little while!" Rumbi beeped in response, signalling that they will do their best to keep this ship safe and clean. With a small nod, Hattie leaped out.

* * *

"Whoaaaa…"

Hattie was only out of the elevator and facing a holographic entry gate. Despite only going so far in this new area, she was already a little excited to see what was down here. Everything looked new!

Wall graffiti, payphones, a map of some sort of underground railroad system, holographic entry gates, and roombas that look like giant inflatable cats. She walked up to the map and looked it over. All these names and lines were kind of making her head hurt, trying to memorize them.

Tabby line, Tortoiseshell line, Spotty line, and Calice line. Probably not going to be able to memorize those easily. So she'll just go by colors. Yellow, Green, Blue, and Pink.

But now, how was she was going to progress? From the looks of the holographic entry gate, she needs some sort of card to get through. She then glanced to the cat roomba and got a small idea. If it was inflatable-looking, surely it would be bouncy, right?

She took a chance and leaped onto it. It meowed and boosted her high above the gate. With an eager smile, she marched forward, ready to take on more of this area. To her mild surprise, she spotted a few residents here. They were black cats, but of different shapes and sizes. There was even a food truck right near some holographic tracks.

Hattie glanced left and right near the tracks. What exactly was this for?

She then got her answer when she heard a loud meow and a train horn to her right. She gasped and stepped back as a large orange cat with a red scarf ran past her, using its tail to pull a sort of modern looking train.

Hattie's eyes were wide with mild shock, then they sparkled as she clapped her hands excitedly. "Ohmigosh!" Better watch out Conductor; you've got some competition.

More of these cat-powered trains pass through, showing no signs of stopping. Guess Hattie will have to take the train in a different way. She hopped on top of the food truck and onto a passing train, standing on the rooftop.

She smiled as she began heading to her next destination. With the help of another cat roomba, she reached a new section. But now there was a wall blocking her way.

She noticed another cat roomba cleaning off to the side, but not close enough to the wall. How was she going to be able to reach the wall? Perhaps if she could jump on the roomba's head then do a dash…

She then yelped, slipping into a puddle of...well, she was going to assume it was either mud or paint. Either way, felt sticky and gross. Then, to her surprise, the cat roomba was alerted by her messy slip-up. It immediately sped right up to her and bumped into her, boosting her over the wall and cleaning her completely at the same time.

Hattie was surprised, but not disappointed. She probably should have guessed that this was how to get a roomba's attention. Whenever she dropped cookie crumbs on the floor, Rumbi always immediately came to the messy spot and cleaned it up.

Either way, she had no time to dwell on these thoughts. A new world with more Time Pieces is still waiting for her. Continuing onward, she managed to hop onto a train that lead down a long tunnel. Once they reached the end of it and she hopped off, she looked around with complete awe.

This underground metro seemed to stretch high above her. Various colored holographic tracks with lots of cat-trains running along them. All sorts of shops, holographic signs, holographic poles, metro tunnels, cats, wall-graffiti, and food trucks were all over this large new area.

Hattie couldn't help but show a large grin as she looked all around her. There was so much to see! So much to explore!

But she blinked, shaking her head. No, touring around will have to wait until she gathered her new Time Pieces here.

She then gasped, seeing the faint familiar white glow in the paws of a wandering black cat. This one was a little different though. He wore a small white mask over his mouth.

"Hey!" The cat turned around, seeing Hattie charge at him. He yelped and quickly picked up the pace. Hattie knocked him down with her umbrella and snagged her Time Piece. Huh, surprisingly easy for her first one.

Guess she should've expected what came next.

She looked up, seeing two more black cats with the same mask approach her. One was holding a bat in his hand as well. This is intimidating, to say the least.

One of the cats punched his paws together as he said to Hattie, "That belongs to the boss!"

"No way!" Hattie held her Time Piece close. A couple small cats aren't going to take this from here. And whoever this boss is, they can't scare her.

But she then felt her Time Piece slip out of her grasp as a new voice spoke up. It was female and had a sly intimidating tone to it. "Thank you for bringing this to me."

Hattie gasped and carefully turned around, seeing who she was up against. Needless to say, something told her that this was the "boss" that those two cats were referring to.

Compared to the two cats and Hattie herself, she was tall. Hattie had to be no higher than a couple inches above her kneecaps at her height. She had a long crooked tail that slightly swayed behind her. She had black-gray fur with slick white hair behind her large pointed ears and two curled whiskers on each side of her face. She also wore a long black fur-lined coat that faded to red at the end of the coat tails and many pieces of jewelry. There was a golden three-toed cat's paw image on the back of said coat. Out of the entire attire, what reached out to Hattie the most was her eyes. Her right eye was yellow like the cats, but her left one was a pale blue with a scar over it. She may be blind in said eye. Regardless, she looked very menacing.

"Who do you work for? No one?" She gently gripped the Time Piece in her clawed grasp as she glanced down to Hattie. To answer her question, Hattie hesitantly shook her head no. The cat lady seemed to have smiled a bit more maliciously, showing off her sharp fangs, as she pocketed the Time Piece in her jacket.

"Well...I can't have you running around, interfering with my jewel business." She circled Hattie, flinching a bit when she spoke to her in a cold yet formal tone. This is a lot different than Snatcher's intimidation. He just yells and tries to scare you. This cat lady does it by being cold and serious. A whole new level of unnerving.

"So…" She then leaned down to Hattie's level, looking right into her turquoise eyes. "You work for me now."

Wait, when did Hattie agree to this? What would make her want to work for this scary cat lady?

Seeing the hesitation, she then dug through her other pocket and swiftly handed her...a stack of green paper? What good was this weird stuff? Smells like cat fur.

The cat lady then walked ahead and said, "Come to my store. We have business to discuss." She had her arms folded behind her back as she continued walking.

One of the cats went to her side, giving Hattie a "I'm watching you" gesture. The other one with the bat went to her side and said, "You heard her, kid. Get going." He then lightly poked her in the back with the bat, having her jolt and step forward.

Seems she had no other choice but to follow. What a mess she got herself into this time...


End file.
